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16 - 27 Jan 2003
More of Sikkim:
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The Himalayas seen from the highest hill, photo's can't really capture the grandness! |
One day we climbed Medam hill, the highest hill and closest to the Himalayan range. It was 13Km up and there was supposed to be a shorter way down at the other side... Things weren't meant to work out... two third up the hill we managed to lose each other and half the group went to one place they thought to be the highest point and the other to an other place... Myself and Shriila' had most of the lunch so we were ok:-)
There was little we could do as we thought eventually the others will join but that's what the others thought to! Anyhow we did meditation un top of the hill (over 3000m high!) and it was beautiful, the air fresh and bit cold, but no wind at all, the sun kept it very pleasant. Also no noise at all and complete feeling of peace, before even starting meditation. We thought to do 20minutes, eat something and try more to find the others but when I looked on my watch 45min had passed blissfully!
After still the others were no where to be seen and as we knew there was an other 13Km to go down we started. And, (doesn't it always happen?) right at the place where we lost the group we found them. It seems they had gone to the right place... but I think both were right!
Half the steep journey down the hill was made through dense forest and in darkness. Didi and myself made a game of not using the flashlight, sometimes easier than getting blinded by the light. It's also fun as you have to rely more on the deeper senses. We all made it back safely.
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Shriila, Didi and Giridhara |
Next day we went to the supposed to be beautiful next town, but it seems just tourist town, with too many hotels. We couldn't even buy food to cook! Malati and myself went 8Km down the hill by jeep to shop and going up... no more jeeps, too late. We ended up walking back up! That was after an already tiring full travel day. Anyhow we did cook a nice meal and got out of the place the next morning renting a jeep for the day.!
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Sacred lake, surrounded by prayer flags, not sure if the
sight will give liberation as promised but beautiful it is! |
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An other mediation cave. | Our multipurpose room, kitchen, bathroom & toilet... We did keep it all clean! |
A trip with water falls, sacred lake and cave and finally a stay at in a picturesque mountain village. with interesting cooking arrangements...
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Coronation throne of the first king of Sikkim | An other Sacred lake, serene and very green |
Actually this village was the birthplace of Sikkim, the first King was crowned here in the 16th century.
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Malati, Shriila' and Tanmayii | More Stupa's these probably with the remains of the abbots of the monastery |
On our way back to the capital, forgot the name..., we stopped to visit one monastery an hours walk up hill. Lots of stupa's, prayer flags, brightly coloured temples and nice meditation.
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Finely painted details and more and more prayer flags everywhere. Very colourful and festive |
Well, that was the end of the tour at least for the photos. From Sikkim we went to Calcutta, we had one more Pizza as goodbye party, Paviitri who came on the first part of the tour also joined us here. Than same evening, with more delayed trains... I actually don't even write these things anymore as it's part and parcel of travelling in India. Four hour delay is nothing, 12 hours is a small delay and 24 hours is starting to get a real delay... you get the picture:-) From here some went on for more travel but most of us went back to Delhi to depart from there. I am going to send everyone who came on the tour a photo CD in return for a little story... these will be posted on the India tour website.
To be continued:-)
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